Parkway Life Church hosted the 1st Annual "Back to School Kickoff" on Saturday August 18. The event was held on the church grounds and was open from 10AM until 2 PM.

It was promoted as a "Get ready to go back to school with a fun filled day". The event was a community wide effort according to Cathy Ferguson one of the events organizers. She stated without the whole community coming together the event would not have happened. They began working on the event in May of this year deciding what to do and who to contact and who would be available to set up booths during the event..

A total of 5 area churches participated in the event with booths while many other area churches donated school supplies. Other organizations provided donations including items and cash to help with the success of this project and to show their involvement and commitment to the needs of the community.

Bullying has become a topic of discussion lately and the counselor from the Lumberton ISD was on hand to answer any questions parents may have had on this subject Outside in the parking lot there was a dunking booth and representatives from the Lumberton Police, Fire and EMS, all gladly answering any questions that were posed.

The Lumberton ISD transportation was there with a bus and giving away coloring books to the children as they came aboard.

During the day free hotdogs provided by HEB Grocery were cooked and given out along with popcorn and snow cones at the Parent Teachers Organization booth inside of the church.

People began lining up outside the church's doors as early as 9:15 AM in anticipation. Sebastian Proffit a sixth grader at Lumberton Intermediate was first in line for a haircut. It was estimated that during the 4 hours of the kickoff over 600 people attended the event.

It was a great time for all and will become an annual event for the community.